A Heart Full of Love
by prodigaldaughter13
Summary: A retelling of the Little Mermaid. Molly longs both for a human and a soul, and Sherlock can give her both, but at what cost? A/N: This is based on the Hans Christian Andersen story, not the Disney film. So it is very different, and rather sad. Be warned. Written for Let's Write Sherlock Challenge 2. (Unrequited Sherlolly and requited Johnlock)


Molly had never quite been usual, as far as merfolk went. Her sisters frequently teased her for it, along with their usual repertoire of her being the youngest and smallest of seven. As her sisters each turned sixteen and went up to the surface for a day as was custom, Molly became more and more enchanted by tales of the human world. She often sat with her grandmother as she related tales of the world above and its mysteries and intricacies.

"Humans don't live as we do, little one," she would tell Molly. "Instead of one tail of scales, they have two made of flesh. They only live a hundred years on this earth, while we spend nearly five hundred in the beautiful sea."

"That's so sad, that they have so little time, and never see the world we have," Molly would remark, gazing at the glittering palace she and her family lived in.

"Ah, but Molly, humans have immortal souls, which we merfolk do not. When a human's time is up, their soul flies away to Heaven. We merely turn to sea foam. I still believe we have the better deal, but there you have it," her grandmother would say. One day, just before her sixteenth birthday, Molly asked a new question.

"How could a mermaid get an immortal soul?" she asked, for like us all, she feared death. Her grandmother laughed at her granddaughter, but answered her query.

"A human would have to willingly marry her, and when he pledged his love, some of that love would form a soul for the mermaid," her grandmother explained. "But there is no way for a mermaid and human to fall in love." Molly nodded, but the idea of an immortal soul, and of humanity, remained in her mind.

On her sixteenth birthday, she swam up to the surface of the sea and hauled herself up on a rock, enjoying the feel of sun on her skin and the wind in her hair for the first time in her life. She whiled the day away exploring shallow reefs and things she never saw deep in her sea palace. As the sun began to set, she saw beautiful colored lights burst from above a nearby ship. "Happy birthday, Prince Sherlock!" the men on the ship cried, but the prince, a young man with dark hair and pale skin, seemed bored and aloof. Soon after the fireworks, a party ensued, and Molly swam closer, careful to remain unseen because humans were notoriously afraid of and cruel to mermaids. Sometime during the party, a storm crept upon the ship and Molly. The crew was terribly unprepared, and the ship tossed to and fro until Prince Sherlock was tossed overboard.

Molly immediately dove for him, holding his unconscious head above water as she swam for shore. As she tugged him onto the sand, she noticed again how beautiful he was, even shivering and sleeping. She quickly covered him in her long, long hair, uncut by mermaid tradition, and kept him warm through the night. When the dawn came it brought a handsome young man to the beach, driving Molly swiftly into the waves where she hid and listened quietly.

"Sherlock!" the man exclaimed, rushing to the Prince's side to lift him to his feet. "When we lost _The Reichenbach_ I'd feared we'd lost you." The concern was clear in his voice, and Molly was suddenly jealous of this kind man. The jealousy grew when she saw Sherlock unleash a disarming smile on the man.

"John, rescuing me as always," he acknowledged in a deep voice. "You shouldn't be holding me up, it'll bother your shoulder." John only chuckled.

"I didn't save you this time, you great clod, I only found you. C'mon, Mrs. Hudson has some dry clothes for you in the castle," John teased, helping Sherlock walk unsteadily up the path leading away from the beach. There was no mistaking the awe and joy in both their eyes. Molly dove down and raced home.

Her sisters pestered her when she arrived home, clamoring to know what had taken her so long and what she had seen. Molly swam straight past them and hid in her room, crying, for three days. She loved the prince, and she could never have him. Molly was certain that if she were human, she could make the prince see her, and love her. Then she could have her love and an immortal soul, getting everything she wanted in one fell swoop. On the fourth morning of her voluntary seclusion, Molly swam out of her bedroom window and snuck off to see the Sea Witch, Irene.

Irene certainly didn't look like a sea witch. She was beautiful and lived outside the city in a beautiful cave with an immaculate garden of coral outside it. Molly explained her situation to Irene, who laughed madly. "You wish to become human? What are you willing to give up for it?" Irene asked.

"Anything you ask," Molly answered. Irene grinned wolfishly.

"For payment, you must give me your voice. In return, I will give you a potion that will make it feel as if a knife is slicing you apart through the tail. From then on, each step you take will be as if on glass." Molly nodded eagerly, agreeing to all the conditions, but before she could reach for the bottle Irene was now holding, Irene issued one more warning. "Now, if your prince should marry another, on the dawn after his wedding, you shall die and turn to sea foam as we all do. Are you willing to give up your entire life for a prince who may leave you brokenhearted?" Molly voiced her fervent agreement, and Irene gave her the potion, incanting a spell that took Molly's voice.

Molly swam happily to the surface and flopped onto the beach before drinking the potion. The immediate pain shooting through her tail was so intense she lost consciousness shortly after it began. When she awoke, it was to Prince Sherlock peering over her and a pair of legs hidden by a dress made of strange scales.

"Your dress is most peculiar," Sherlock said and Molly smiled. The prince straightened up. "You may as well come along, John would hate for me to leave a girl stranded on the beach, even one as ordinary as you." Molly refused to let his sharp words hurt her. Instead, she leapt up and hurried after him, even as each footstep brought fresh pain.

At first the court whispered about her, several courtiers mocking her long flowing hair and lack of voice. Soon, however, it became usual for her to be seen in Sherlock's company. His friend John had gone off to fight an enemy at the country's border, and it made Sherlock feel better to have someone to bounce his thoughts and worries off of. He began to smile at her fondly, something no one at court, not even his brother King Mycroft, received. It was made clear very quickly though that he would never love her. Each time he mentioned his soldier, his voice and eyes softened for a moment. Then he would scoff "Sentiment," and return to his experiments with Molly's assistance.

After nearly a year spent in this manner, the war was ended and John returned home, with a slight limp. Sherlock had heard of the arrival, and raced into the courtyard with Molly trailing after him at a more sedate -and so, less painful- rate. He and John stared at each other for a moment before Sherlock swooped down and kissed him soundly. Molly knew she was doomed.

The next month, Prince Sherlock was married to Captain of the Royal Army John on a ship in the harbor. That night, Molly danced, for once relishing in the pain as Sherlock spun her across the deck. She knew tonight was her last, and the thought made a small tear well up in her eyes. Sherlock asked about it, but Molly only shook her head with a smile, and asked with a gesture for one more dance. Sherlock obliged, but left soon after to retire with John in the Captain's quarters. Molly decided she wouldn't sleep; she would instead stay up and appreciate each moment of her last night.

Long after the moon had set but before the sun would even think of rising, Molly heard familiar voices calling her name. She rushed to the side of the ship, where her sisters rode cresting waves up to speak with her.

They had learned of her departure and missed her terribly, but it had taken nearly a year and the news of the prince's wedding, overheard by a dolphin and carried down to them, for them to gain the courage to speak to the Sea Witch. When they'd realized that the prince wasn't marrying Molly and that his wedding another would result in her death, they had sold their long long hair to the Sea Witch in exchange for a magic knife.

"If you use this knife to kill the prince and his groom and then let their blood splash your feet, you'll be a mermaid again and can come back with us," her eldest sister said, pressing the wicked blade into Molly's hand. She thanked her sisters and promised to see them soon, still uncertain if she could truly go through with the plan. When she slipped into the prince's bedchamber and saw how peaceful and happy he looked in John's arms, Molly knew she couldn't do it. Instead, she let the knife fall to the floor as she kissed them both on the forehead, and she went to the bow of the ship to await the sun.

The sky turned grey, then pink, and finally burst gold. The first beams of morning sparked across Molly's skin as she turned to foam, sacrificing herself to the sea to save the one she loved.


End file.
